It’s time for a change – and a new kitchen can be a great way to give your home a serious spring spruce-up, and make it healthier, too.

But if you or someone in your family has allergies and asthma, there are important steps you need to take.

The Demolition

It’s great to get older (and likely more toxic) materials out of your kitchen – but it’s crucial that you do it carefully.

The first step is to mitigate the demolition dust, which can contain chemicals, molds and other irritants, says Eric Corey Freed, principal with San Francisco’s organicARCHITECT and author of Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies. In order to keep dust from spreading, tightly seal off the area with plastic sheeting. It’s also worth picking up some hairnet-like covers for your air ducts to keep the dust from being recirculated.

Everyone working in the area also needs to wear protective goggles and a ventilating mask. “Guys tend to say, ‘I don’t need that, it’s just a little dust.’ But it adds up,” says Freed. “And it’s not just the heavy dust that you can see – it’s all the fine particulate that you can’t see that you inhale.” (Freed also stresses that if you suspect there is asbestos or lead paint, you need to bring in the pros to do the demo work.)

Mold can also present a serious problem because moisture often gathers behind sink cabinets, creating the perfect place for mold to breed and set off allergy symptoms during and after a renovation.

“Many owners see mold, spray bleach on it and think it’s fixed,” says Freed. Not so: the affected area must be completely dried out – or the drywall replaced – to ensure it doesn’t grow back. Once the demolition is complete, wet-mop to capture remaining dirt and dust, then flush the space with fresh air before that new kitchen rolls in.

Next Page: Choosing the right cabinets plus ‘cured’ counters that don’t off-gas.

There’s a lot of work in keeping an allergy-friendly home: regular dusting and vacuuming, cleaning with hypoallergenic products and ensuring low humidity levels to keep moulds away. This regimen is likely to keep indoor allergies in check, unless you have wall-to-wall broadloom. Carpets are heaven for allergy-inducing dust mites, since pile traps skin particles, the mites’ main source of nourishment.

If you’re looking to replace your dust mite settlement with a hypoallergenic floor, there are a number of good options. And esthetic appeal can still be your first consideration, according to Mark Bisbee of GreenFloors, a Virginia-based flooring company that specializes in healthy floors. “Just because it’s good for you, doesn’t mean it has to be ugly.”

Allergic Living sweeps through the following choices for a beautiful, allergy-free floor.

Bamboo

The green alternative to hardwood, bamboo is growing in popularity and dropping in price. Like hardwood, bamboo comes naturally light or dark (and can be stained) and is just as easy to keep clean. Bamboo, though, is actually a member of the grass family. It only takes three years to mature – most hardwood takes between 50 and 100 years – and it flourishes with few pesticides, so the impact of harvesting it is minimal.

Bamboo is kiln-dried and turned into a variety of floor products, from unfinished tongue-and-groove strips that are installed the old-fashioned way, with a hammer and nails, to floating floors that can be glued into place. Bamboo is durable, too, lasting between 30 and 50 years, and can be refinished. However, like any wood product, it’s not suited to a moisture-prone area of the home.

Be careful when choosing your bamboo since some brands are made using formaldehyde (known to irritate the airways), while other brands may emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Check also that an installer is using an adhesive that will not give off fumes. Be sure to ask a supplier for an emission-free bamboo: it is available and beautiful.

Cork

This is another great and green alternative. Bark from the cork oak tree is harvested carefully in its natural habitat, the Mediterranean, (Portugal is a major exporter) without doing any damage to the trees themselves – some of which are centuries old. The bark is then fashioned into tiles that are moisture resistant, making it a good choice, even in the kitchen.

Cork flooring products include glue-down tiles and floating-floor systems in which the cork is pre-glued to a core of particle board. Pieces snap together to make a floor. Wicanders is one brand that ensures the particle board in their floating floor is virtually formaldehyde free (less than 1 per cent).

Cork comes in a variety of colors and patterns. While it may feel soft underfoot, it is long-lasting as well as visually appealing.

Natural Linoleum

Just the word ‘linoleum’ may conjure up images of the vinyl flooring popular in 1950s kitchens. Today, the word has been reclaimed and is used to describe floors created from organic materials that are stylish and allergy-friendly.

Natural linoleum, also known by the brand name Marmoleum, is made from wood flour and bound together with flax and linseed oils to produce an anti-microbial barrier. “You can actually eat it – it’s 100 per cent biodegradable,” Bisbee says. Marmoleum comes in an incredible range of patterns and colors, from bright red to mahogany brown. It is durable, lasting about 30 years.

Next: Tiles and Stairs

Kantelberg has made a name for herself as a designer of chic condominium interiors. She works for high-end developers in downtown Toronto, designing elegant lobbies and inspiring model suites, as well as coming up with the finishes that buyers will choose from for cabinets and flooring. Now she’s using her success to spread the word about healthy design, attempting to make environmental consciousness part of everyone’s furnishing equation.

Kantelberg incorporates the principles of green design into every project, so the spaces she creates can be healthy, beautiful places to live for those with – and without – asthma and environmental sensitivities. “It’s important for me to make sure people are buying a suite without chemicals,” she says. Without any compromise on the style front, of course.

Kantelberg didn’t set out with a grand plan to become Canada’s ultimate eco-interior designer. Arriving there has been, one might say, an organic process. She’s the daughter of two eco-minded parents who taught her to be cognizant of her impact on Mother Earth.

Ever since she was a child, Kantelberg has also suffered with environmental sensitivities – severe enough that her mother used to bring along sheets for her daughter wherever they travelled. Today, she still can’t wear synthetic fabrics and becomes unwell in an air-conditioned environment. She can get sick even staying one night in a hotel with poor air quality. “It has helped me as a designer because I am aware of how these things affect people.”

Kantelberg enrolled in design school at 27, graduating in 1994, and opening her own studio specializing in luxury interiors by 1997. Nine years later, Tridel asked her to design what it dubbed its “Eco Suite,” an educational condominium the company was creating to demonstrate sustainable living.

Intrigued, Kantelberg went all-out to create the ultimate green space. She brought in recycled drywall and non-toxic, water-based stains and glues. She made sure linens were organic, paints emitted the least amount of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) possible and fixtures conserved energy and water.

In older condo buildings, air is circulated among the units (so if your neighbour down the hall smokes, you’ll end up breathing it). To avoid this, Kantelberg had an Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) system installed to filter the Eco Suite’s air. The project awakened her inner environmentalist. In every job since, she has incorporated elements of green design.

Home Detox

• Buy unscented cleaning supplies without harsh chemicals. Or, make your own: for example, mix one part lemon juice with two parts vegetable oil to make a furniture polish; use baking soda and water for scouring bathtubs, sinks and toilets and wash your floors with vinegar and water.
• Stop using personal care products with fragrance, such as shampoos, soaps, deodorants and perfumes.
• Choose solid wood furniture and cabinets to avoid off-gassing. Or, if your furniture is made of pressed-wood, seal any exposed areas with a solvent-free paint or varnish. Virginia Salares, senior researcher at CMHC, stresses solid wood is especially important in the bedroom. “That is where you’re being nurtured, getting rested,” she says.
• When buying new carpet, ask for choices with low-chemical emissions, including the underpadding and adhesives. If possible, air carpets in a well-ventilated room before installation.
• Avoid chemicals for pest control. Instead, choose traps, baits or fly swatters.
• Don’t smoke in your home, and don’t allow anyone to smoke in your home.
• Ensure natural gas appliances, such as stoves and furnaces, and gas and wood-burning fireplaces are vented properly to the outdoors. Smoke from wood-burning fireplaces can be especially problematic for those with asthma, and should only used if needed as a heating source.

Ousting Allergens

• Moisture, especially problematic in kitchens, bathrooms and basements, can cause mould growth. Run your bathroom fan (ensure it’s vented to the outdoors) for 15 minutes after a shower, or open the window, says Salares. Use your kitchen exhaust fan when cooking. For the basement, relocate downspouts away from the foundation of your house, use a dehumidifier, and dispose of any water-damaged articles.
• Remove any carpet from bathrooms. The warm, humid environment is heaven for dust mites. Also, wash your bathmat regularly.
• Use a good-quality vacuum, with a HEPA filter and concentrate on areas where there may be a high concentration of allergens such as the front door, in front of a window, and beside the bed. Engage in what Toby Saville, chief microbiologist at Dyson vacuums, calls “intensive vacuuming,” that is, run the machine over these areas for two minutes to maximize dirt and dust removal. Don’t forget to vacuum the stairs and under the couch.
• Hardwood or laminate floors are a good alternative to carpet. However, it’s important to keep them clean, as dust mites can still live in the cracks of hardwood, and dust and pollen can build up on the surface.
• Cover your mattress and pillows with a dust-mite proof cover and avoid using an anti-fungal spray, “which just adds chemicals,” says Saville.
• Dust furniture, blinds, books and toys regularly with a damp cloth, to avoid recirculating dust.

Ventilate, Ventilate, Filter

• For the best air exchange, install a heat recovery ventilator. HRVs are designed to quickly exchange outdoor air (brought in through a filter) with stale indoor air. Heat is transferred from the indoor air to the outdoor air, for improved energy efficiency. (More on HRVs)
• While elimination of contaminants and proper ventilation are your main strategies, air filtration or purification can also help to improve indoor air quality. Be sure to choose a system with a HEPA filter, maintain it properly, and avoid air cleaners that produce ozone.

Sources: Virginia Salares, CMHC; Jay Kassirer, Healthy Indoors Partnership; Toby Saville, Dyson; “The Healthy Home Audit” ; “How to Reduce Chemical Contaminants in your Home” ; “Fighting Asthma in your House”; “A Buyer’s Guide to Home Air Filters”; The Canadian Lung Association

Originally published in Allergic Living magazine.
To order that issue or to subscribe, click here.
© Copyright AGW Publishing Inc.

We spend up to 90 per cent of our time indoors, sealed tightly into our homes, trying to prevent costly energy loss and escape the chill of winter. But there’s a big looming cloud over the cozy picture. It’s inside air pollution.

The U.S. Environmental Agency labels indoor air one of the top five environmental health risks. Pollutants known as volatile organic compounds or VOCs are especially irritating to people with asthma or chemical sensitivities. And these gases are everywhere: they’re given off by new furniture, adhesives used in carpeting and cupboards, paint, drywall, a wide variety of personal-care products and dry cleaning.

But a whiff of good news on the home front: a study conducted by a University of Georgia team shows that at least five common houseplants cleanse the air of some nasty VOCs.

“I’m really excited,” said Dr. Stanley Kays, a professor in the department of horticulture and the lead author of the study. “I see a real potential positive health impact if we learn how to utilize plants to create a healthier environment,” he told Allergic Living.

The research team tested 28 common indoor plants for their ability to remove five toxic indoor pollutants: benzene (particularly found in drywall in Georgia), toluene, octane, trichloroethene (TCE) and alpha-pinene. “The VOCs tested in this study have a potential to seriously compromise the health of exposed individuals,” Kays said.

What floored him was the sheer volume of these compounds in the households. “When we started checking the air quality in some of the houses, it was shocking, unbelievable. We identified 179 VOCs in just two homes. It reiterated that we have a real problem here and most people have no idea about it.”

The Top 5

Of 28 plant species tested, five emerged as the best VOC eliminators.

• Purple Waffle Plant (Hemigraphis alternata) This attractive plant has puckered, slightly curled leaves that show off a red underside. It’s professor Stanley Kays personal favourite, a VOC-eliminating powerhouse.
• English Ivy (Hedera helix) The lush, fast-growing foliage makes for a nice hanging or climbing plant as ivy sucks up the UGA’s quintuplet of VOCs. Do keep out of reach of toddlers and pets, as the leaves are toxic if eaten.
• Variegated Wax Plant (Hoya carnosa) This tropical develops beautiful blooms in the summer, and its exquisite two-tone foliage inhales your household pollutants all year long.
• Asparagus Fern (Asparagus densiflorus) The plant’s abundant greenery scrubs toxins right out of the air. Meantime, the elegant spikes will perk up a room in the dead of winter. Don’t eat the berries, which can irritate the intestines; the plant can be toxic to pets.
• Purple Heart Plant (Tradescantia pallida) A favourite from the spiderwort family, this plant with its elongated, purple leaves out fills out to a full, beautiful hanging pot. Researchers rated it as superior for its ability to remove four of five VOCs – benzene, toluene, TCE and alpha-pinene.

On the Horizon

While this study is preliminary research, Kays is optimistic about being able to offer plant “prescriptions” in future. “I think we can really increase the health of people by the precise use of plants in interior spaces,” he says. A few pretty plants for much better breathing? Sounds like an idea that will blossom.

From the Winter 2010 issue of Allergic Living magazine.
To order that issue or to subscribe, click here.

© Copyright AGW Publishing Inc.